


Out of My League

by wordsbykaly



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Coffee Shop, Death, F/M, Okay just light angst, One Shot, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Short One Shot, Unrequited Love, curse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27345085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsbykaly/pseuds/wordsbykaly
Summary: Jae is cursed to forever fall in love with the most perfect girl who's never going to love him back.The sadder part? He dies every time he does.
Relationships: Park Jaehyung | Jae/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Out of My League

Jae really doesn’t want to die at the moment.

It's been a good day: a customer hasn't yelled at him for messing up their order, he's gotten 95% of the names right (and his co-workers could actually read what he wrote this time), and for once, his boss spelled his name right on the employee chalkboard (she always spelled it as J-A-Y and not J-A-E). Besides, he’s _so_ close to having an entire day of not seeing her. So close to proving to his literally damned spirit guide that he’s actually got a shot at breaking his curse and passing on. He watches the clock Brian hid next to the cash register, holding his breath in anticipation as the numbers climbed closer and closer to 12 AM.

But then the café bell rings.

“Hello? I’d like a coffee to go and hold off on the sugar, if that’s alright.”

_Shit._

He suppresses a groan, trying to convince himself that she could be any of the hundreds of girls who frequented the café he works at. They're located next to the biggest university in town, for gods' sakes.

But who is he kidding – he’d know that voice anywhere. _Aly._

Unfortunately for him, all of his co-workers have gone home for the day so it's only him left at the counter. Without looking up, he answers, “Got it. I’ll just bring it to your table.” He walks over to the coffee machine and focuses on putting the right things into the right holes and pushing the right buttons. Maybe if he can get through this without looking at her, he’ll live.

Sneakers shuffle against the laminated floor. “You’re not going to ring that up?” Aly asks.

“It’s on the house.” He blocks the image of her standing on her tiptoes, resting her arms on the cool surface of the café bar. Cute, but he doesn’t have a death wish.

“Oh.”

The whirring coffee machine fills the gap their silence makes. He holds on to the edge of the counter to keep his hands from shaking, praying she’d walk away any moment now.

“Excuse me?”

 _Oh, come on._ “Yeah?” he replies, hoping he doesn’t sound as nervous as he feels.

“You’re not flirting with me, right?” she asks, each word dripping with unease.

“No, I’m not,” he says. _I wish I am, though._

“Oh.” Unsurprisingly, she sounds relieved. It’s the whole point of his curse: that he’ll die with her never liking him back, no matter what he does.

And he’s used to it. He’s been in a situation like this 914 times already, all of them ending with him in Hell: both in the actual Underworld, and in the tiny monoblock stool in Hades’ Spirit Resources Department. But that doesn’t mean it stings any less when it happens, that it hurts any less when an invisible rope tugs him away from this reality, away from her.

Oh, and the cherry on top? She wouldn't even remember him when he comes back to life, no matter what happened the day before.

So much for having a peaceful afterlife, huh?

“Like, nothing against you, though,” she adds, each word a note in the symphony of his rejection. And he hates how he'd still like listening to it, just because it's music written by her. “It’s just that my boyfriend just broke up with me so… yeah. I’m kinda sensitive about it.”

_That jerk. What a dumbass._

“I’m sorry, what?”

He said that out loud? “Um, I meant your boyfriend–”

“Ex-boyfriend,” she snaps.

“Uh, yeah, him. He’s a dumbass,” Jae mumbles. “He shouldn’t have broken up with you.”

She chuckles, a hollow sound. “You sure you’re not flirting with me?”

“Positive.”

Behind him, a bar stool is dragged back and he hears her settle on it. He tries to ignore her, but he can feel her eyes boring into his back, her gaze heavy with wordless thoughts and unspoken questions.

“I just can’t believe it’s over,” she admits. He hears her sigh into her hands. “Is there something wrong with me? Am I not enough?”

“I’m sure it’s not you,” he can’t help but saying.

From the reflective surface of the machine, he watches her warped image as she tilts her head, considering him. “How would you know? You don’t even know me,” she says, testing the words as they leave her mouth.

Not know her?

He wishes he can turn around and tell her about all the times she’s been to this café. About all the times he’s watched her from afar because coming close to her would literally mean the death of him.

She lights up the room when she laughs. She can crumble his resolve with a bat of her eyes. And maybe it’s the curse talking, but she can make him fall in love with her just by walking into the room. She can break his heart, too, when she leaves and wouldn’t even know it.

See, being cursed to love someone like her is like swimming in an ocean, not knowing if he’ll see land again. But as much as he hates it, he wouldn’t (well, couldn’t) change a thing if it means he can stay in her orbit. Not that she'll remember him trying, but what else can he do?

He fights the urge to turn around. “I just do.”

Feeling the familiar tug of death because of the turn his thoughts are taking, he shakes himself out of it. He relaxes his hands enough to pour her the cup of coffee, gently setting it in front of her as he avoids her eyes. “Here you go. One coffee to go, no sugar.”

“Thanks.” She picks up her coffee and takes the short walk to the door, hand resting on the handle. If she goes ahead and leaves, he’ll be safe.

But she stops.

Turns around.

“Jaehyung?” Hearing her say his name makes him look up. Her hair is a mess and her eyeliner is smudged from crying, but if he has to pull out a word to describe how she looks, he’d still choose ‘beautiful’ over and over.

Aly smiles, maybe for the first time tonight. “It was nice meeting you.”

Then everything goes black.

The next thing he knows, he’s in a familiar office in one of his least favorite places out of Earth. He was _so_ close to living a full day, but he can’t even feel angry about not making it.

Seeing her smile like that makes the trip to Hell worth it.

“Jaehyung? Is that you?” Ace, his spirit guide, looks up from her paperwork to see him dusting off his pants, a teasing glint in her eyes. “Fancy seeing you here.”

He groans, collapsing onto the plastic stool. “Let’s just get this over with.”

She chuckles (if you could call the sound of rattling teeth that). “Whatever you say, lover boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was supposed to post it on Twitter but I don't want the themes of death to trigger anyone. This fic is loosely inspired by the song Out of My League by Stephen Speaks! I hope you liked it <3


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